1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to laminated and bonded construction of a plurality of thin plate parts for use in an ink-jet printer head and an electrical component.
2. Description of Related Art
An on-demand type piezoelectric ink-jet printer head is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,595. The disclosed head includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles, a manifold plate having a manifold, and a channel plate having chambers each associated with each of the nozzles. A diaphragm plate is bonded using an adhesive to the back of the channel plate. Transducers are secured to one side of the diaphragm plate so as to be aligned with the pressure chambers.
The nozzle plate, manifold plate, and channel plate are made of a thin metal plate with a thickness of 200 xcexcm or less.
The diaphragm plate is made of a thin metal plate with a thickness of 25 xcexcm or less in order to efficiently transmit the deformation of the transducers.
Typically, these plates are laminated and bonded using an adhesive. Due to a pressing force applied to these plates when they are bonded, the adhesive sometimes squeezes out to the ink passages, such as the chambers, and is hardened. Consequently, ink flow may be blocked or decreased, resulting in a shortage of discharged ink.
The forgoing problem has also occurred when electrical components with small wiring patterns are assembled. Consequently, the invention addresses the forgoing problem and provides laminated and bonded construction of thin plate parts.
The invention involves electrical components made of several plates connected together using an adhesive. In one type of electrical component each of the plates includes a small wiring pattern. The pattern may be an electrical wiring pattern formed on a circuit board. Ink-jet printer heads are another type of electrical component. Each plate of an ink-jet printer head has openings which pass ink during operation. If these openings become blocked by the adhesive, the ink-jet printer head will not function properly.
Grooves are provided in each of the plates so that excessive adhesive fills the grooves and not the openings designed to pass ink. Additionally, each plate has an escape hole connected with the grooves so that excessive adhesive flows through the grooves and accumulates in the escape holes. Because the plates are stacked vertically the escape holes are aligned vertically and form a cavity for collecting adhesive.
It is an object of the invention to improve the manufacturing yield of electrical components comprised of a plurality of laminated plates and to provide higher quality electrical components.